PENSIONERS were stranded in Handforth town centre after buses dropped them off for their weekly shop.

They were left high and dry when the bus service failed to return for the journey home.

Due to roadworks on the B5358 Wilmslow Road north of the town centre, the main road is closed to southbound traffic with the 130 and 378 bus services forced to make a diversion bypassing the centre.

Michael Johnson, owner of Handforth News said: "Because of the roadworks the bus does not come into Handforth on the journey home.

"Pensioners can come in but there are no buses going back home so they have to walk.

"They come here form Colshaw and other areas and it is a long walk home.

"Some have just had to walk while others have clubbed together to get a taxi. Its not fair."

Mr Johnson added: "It's also becoming a valid retail complaint. If people can't get back home, they're not going to come into the centre which is affecting business."

In the town last week, there were several pensioners congregating around the bus stop who had just discovered there were no services running.

Joan Lord from Lacey Green had just called for a taxi and said: "I've come to the shops and there are no signs or anything about the buses and it's too far to walk."

Doreen Findlow, 74, from Handforth was waiting at the bus stop after doing some shopping and said: "I had no idea the buses weren't running. I thought I'd just missed it.

"It's not far, but I'm not a quick walker, so I will have to take a nice slow walk home."

Neil Anderton, senior engineer for Cheshire County Council who is co-ordinating the works said: "There's a one way system in place with a diversion from the A555 onto the bypass, coming back up on Dean Row.

"This leaves a 3/4 mile gap from the roundabout near Clay Lane through the centre of Handforth.

"It's regrettable, but the Highways authority have an obligation to maintain the roads.

"And because of the proximity to the roundabout and the junction at Spath Lane and Kingston Road we can't have lights. It would be chaotic."

A spokesman for Arriva who run the 130 service, explained: "Because the roadworks prevent access into Handforth from the Heald Green side, they have to go down the bypass and there isn't time to double back to Handforth as it would disrupt the rest of the service."

Arriva said they had looked into using residential roads for a detour but for reasons of health and safety no suitable route was found.

The spokesman added: "The other option was to set up a shuttle bus, but we would need to find a vehicle, manpower and with two different providers on the route, it wasn't viable so we passed it to Cheshire County Council."

Mr Johnson claimed that the county council had refused to underwrite a shuttle service.

Mr Anderton said the roadworks were expected to last for around three weeks and added: "We're fitting them in before the Handforth centre improvements begin in January and those won't involve any road closures."